Fight the midweek blues with Andrea Locci's cheeky illustration series SneakerSutra

We’re always on the lookout for playful illustration series here at It’s Nice That. Sometimes all you need is some visual humour to get you over the midweek blues. London-based illustrator Andrea Locci provides just this with his latest cheeky series, Sneaker Sutra.

A self-confessed sneaker-head, Andrea created SneakerSutra off the back of a realisation that all around him sneakers were being used by their owners as a form of what he describes as “peacocking”. “As peacocks use their feathers to get a mate, so do humans with sneakers,” he puts forward. “As with the peacock’s feathers, sneakers can be very colourful and spectacular. If we then consider the fact they are always on display, they easily become the most perfect outfit opportunity we have to attract attention!”

Andrea is a firm believer in the rule of shoes being the window to the soul, or at least a means of understanding someone’s personality, “For some reason, people feel more comfortable and free to express themselves with shoes that with other parts of their outfit. Also, unlike other pieces of clothing that get covered by coats, jackets and other layers according to the season, shoes are always visible. It seems to me they are the best means of advertising our personality.”

Though he started out illustrating sneakers, pretty swiftly Andrea found himself drawing people wearing sneakers “in the act” in different positions, and so SneakerSutra was born. From bathrooms to cars and kitchen counters, the bold and colourful images feature nothing but sneakers and legs to hint at different positions, leaving the viewer to weave their own narrative around each encounter. Thinking of the scenes for his illustrations comes naturally to Andrea; “We are surrounded by sex scenarios: tv shows, fashion ads, Instagram posts and last but not least our personal lives,” he tells us. “Also, asking friends for more inspiration never hurts!” Andrea adds, cheekily.

The series which naturally gained its name from Kama Sutra – and the satisfying sound of Sutra’s alliteration with sneaker – is just at its beginning but has already racked up a steady Instagram following. “The plan is to create 69 images – of course!” Andrea explains. "Then I’d like to release the full collection in a SneakerSutra book.”

His aim with this project is simple: “It’s a fun and cheeky project, it’s all about having a laugh.” We guarantee you’ll be hard-pressed to not at least crack a smile at the all too familiar scenarios and sneaker choices in these illustrations.